This invention generally relates to formulations of drugs, especially drugs having low solubility, and more particularly to methods of making formulations of such drugs to enhance their rate of dissolution, and optionally, to enhance their stability through the inclusion of hydrophobic or hydrophilic excipients that enhance dissolution rate, stabilize drug in crystalline form by inhibiting crystal growth or stabilize drug in amorphous form by preventing crystallization.
The bioavailability of a drug can be limited by poor dissolution of the drug into aqueous bodily fluids following administration. This rate-limiting step may therefore be critical to rapidly attaining therapeutically effective drug levels. Traditional approaches to parenteral delivery of poorly soluble drugs include using large volumes of aqueous diluents, solubilizing agents, detergents, non-aqueous solvents, or non-physiological pH solutions. These formulations, however, can increase the systemic toxicity of the drug composition or damage body tissues at the site of administration.
Other approaches have focused on the physical form of the drug itself. Since the dissolution rate of a drug particle is directly related to its surface area available to contact the aqueous media at the site of administration or site of absorption, methods of preparing drugs in nanoparticulate form have been developed in an effort to maximize the drug surface area, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,270 to De Castro and U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,143 to Wong. Nanoparticles, however, can be difficult to produce and maintain in a stable form due to the tendency of the nanoparticles to flocculate or agglomerate, particularly without the presence of surface modifying agents adsorbed or coated onto the particles. Furthermore, milling or wet grinding techniques, which are typically employed for nanonization, can be undesirable, as it can take several days to process a single batch, scaling-up of the milling or grinding process can be difficult and/or costly, the process can be difficult to conduct aseptically, and it is difficult to eliminate shedding of milling media into the product.
Other efforts directed at enhancing the rate of dissolution have focused on delivering the drug as a dispersion in a water-soluble or biodegradable matrix, typically in the form of polymeric microparticles. For example, the dissolution rate of dexamethasone reportedly was improved by entrapping the drug in chitosan microspheres made by spray-drying (Genta, et al., S.T.P. Pharma Sciences 5(3):202-07 (1995)). Similarly, others have reported enhanced dissolution rates by mixing a poorly soluble drug powder with a water-soluble gelatin, which purportedly makes the surface of the drug hydrophilic (Imai, et al., J. Pharm. Pharmacol., 42:615-19 (1990)).
Related efforts have been directed to forming relatively large, porous matrices of low solubility drugs. For example, Roland & Paeratakul, “Spherical Agglomerates of Water-Insoluble Drugs,” J. Pharma. Sci., 78(11):964-67 (1989) discloses preparing beads having a low solubility drug content up to 98%, wherein the beads have a porous internal structure. Such large beads, however, are unsuitable for parenteral administration, and the beads have less surface area and slower dissolution rates than smaller particles.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide compositions enhancing the dissolution rate of drugs, especially drugs having low aqueous solubility, and optionally, to enhance the stability of the drug through the inclusion of hydrophobic or hydrophilic excipients that stabilize the drug in crystalline form by inhibiting crystal growth or stabilize the drug in amorphous form by preventing crystallization, and to provide methods of making such compositions.
It is another object of the present invention to provide compositions providing enhanced rate of dissolution of drugs, especially drugs of low aqueous solubility, in a formulation suitable for administration by a variety of routes, including, but not limited to, parenteral, mucosal, oral, and topical administration, for local, regional, or systemic effect.
It is further object of the present invention to provide compositions for administration as a bolus injection instead of by infusion.